Hong Kong 1960s & 70s : Mike Cussans' photos

Primary tabs

Thanks to Mike Cussans for uploading over 100 of his photos of Hong Kong in the 1960s and 70s:

Over to Mike...

Growing up in Hong Kong

I was born in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong in 1949. My Dad was flying for Imperial Airways / BOAC on flying boats, and was based in Hong Kong. We lived in Stewart Terrace on the Peak.

We returned to England shortly after that, but my Dad was sent back to Hong Kong again in 1956 when Hong Kong Airways took delivery of 2 Viscount aircraft. We lived at La Salle road, a fantastic place with a huge garden, but sadly it is now a block of flats.

After HKG Airways folded into CPA 1959 my Dad took a position with Jardines Airways Dept. At the time I was at Kowloon Junior School, but was soon packed off to boarding school, probably not the best decision with hindsight! After LaSalle we moved to Cambridge Rd where we had a flat, but by the time my Dad was Manger of HATS (Hong Kong Air Terminal Services) and eventually Jardines Air cargo, we had been moved to St. George's Court... very nice too.

My Mother worked at the old Sea Terminal and eventually was PA to Eric Wood, CEO of the Ocean Terminal, a wonderful place to shop and wander round. Mum knew all the shop owners and retail outlets, and as a former ATS Captain, she had day to day control it seemed. So getting a table a Maxim's for lunch was no problem, or announcing that her son wanted to buy a Rolex in a jewellery shop - 43 years later its still on my wrist ...it cost me a month's salary £65, not bad!

By that time I had left school and was working at Kai Tak as a Traffic clerk, before becoming a Load Controller / Flight Dispatcher....a wonderful time but as a local employee it couldn't last when my parents retired in 1971.

My time was spent playing cricket and football, for both Jardines and KCC and popping into the USRC for a swim. Great memories of playing in the Hong trophy matches at Chater Rd and Jock's Pot Boxing Day football v Swire's, and all the wonderful characters & players I met at the KCC.

I grew up in Hong Kong during the 60s and will always have marvellous memories of the place... the food, buying my records in Diamond Music, learning to drive on Shatin Airstrip, and Lowenbrau at King's Lodge!

I returned to UK and worked for BOAC/British Airways as an aircraft Dispatcher for 37 years before retiring 2009.

The photos

Most of the photos in the early 60s were taken by Dad, as I was still young. The later ones in 60s & 70s I took as I was wandering around. The photos in the early 70s I took as I knew I was leaving Hong Kong soon and I wanted a few memories. Subsequent photos taken 1978 were done when I returned to Hong Kong leading a British Airways cricket club team to play various matches.

Views

A drive up Fei Ngo Shan was a popular viewing place to look towards Sha Tin & Kai Tak, and Sai Kung & Tai Mo Shan were the preferred picnic / bbq locations.

Kowloon Tong in those days was a lovely peaceful area to live in just wish I had taken more photos!

The views towards Kowloon Tong, DBS school, and Ho Man Tin were all taken from St. George's Court, Kadoorie Ave. My bedroom looked out across to DBS, whilst the balcony gave views towards the harbour one way and Ma Tau Kok, Kai Tak the other, Ho Man Tin in front.

More to come?

My skills with a computer / scanner are getting better but it's a steep learning curve. So far I've just done slides now I want to see if I can dig out old photographs and upload them....so there may be more to come.

Thanks for all the help and feedback that I have had from the Gwulo folks.

Best wishes, Mike

(You can click any of the photos below to see other readers' comments, and / or leave your own.)

Lion Rock

Jubilee Reservoir

On Lan Street Central-Looking towards Zetland Street

On Lan Street Central

Harbour

Kowloon Tong 1965

Central-HSBC

View of Kowloon City

View Across Kowloon from Kadoorie Ave

Resettlement Housing

Kwun Tong?

Hong Kong Harbour 1964

Cemetary-Kowloon

FeiNgoShan view 1964

Sai Kung Peninsular

Shatin Valley

Tao Fung Shan Christian Centre

Sai Kung?

TaiLamChung

Tao Fung Shan Christian Centre

The Border 1961

Lantau Island

Murray Building near Peak Tram

HoManTin-Before

HoManTin-After

Kwun Tong Resettlement

Taikoo Docks

Sek Kong

Fishing Boat

SanPoKong

Hillside Grave

Law Courts?

DBS Sports Field-Stonecutters Beyond

DBS School

Kowloon City&KaiTak

View towards Hebe Haven

Bun Festival

Xmas Lights-HSBC

Nathan road Xmas Lights

USS Coral Sea in Hong Kong

SCAA stadium

Local Biker

Macau Hydrofoil

Junk-Causeway Bay Shelter

Shatin Pagoda

ShingMunRedoubt

Family gathering-LokMaChau

SaiKung

Resettlement Housing

Cheung Chau-Festival

Bun Festival

Argyle Street

Typhoon Shelter

Taikoo Dock

Boat People-Medical centre

Fishing Fleet

Cheung Chau-Festival

Harbour

Coral Sea

Onboard Coral Sea

More Buns

Roof of Ocean Terminal

P&O Chusan

View Towards Stonecutters

Dusk-Looking towards DBS school

View Beyond DBS School

Sunset At The Border

Fountain Roundabout KCR

Tiger Balm Gardens

Tiger Balm Gardens

Shatin

Iron Gate...KamTin

Royal Boat at KaiTak

Chinese NewYear 1971

Central at Night

Waterloo road..Kowloon Tong

Inside La Salle Road Flat

Hotel In Macau

Macau..Portuguese Style Hotel

Kowloon Tong 1965 (flipped)

Halloween party..KJS 1957.jpg

KJS 1957 Nov ..Lady Grantham visit.jpg

Lady grantham at KJS 1957.jpg

Prince Philip visits HK

Land's end.jpg

Prince Philip at Kai Tak

Bank of China

Castle Walls KamTin

View From Peak Station

Peak Tram

Rickshaw Pullers

Repulse Bay Hotel

Market Place

Lion Rock from the Sea

LaSalle Road

Flat at La Salle Road

Living in Kowloon Tong

View of 27LaSalle Road

Having a Splash

Landslide..Kowloon Tong

Typhoon Damage

Typhoon Mary damage

Typhoon Damage

Local Cowboy

Governor's House..Macau

Lovely Macau

HKSB Advert

Water Front...Macau

Church...Macau

Sun Yat Sen Statue...Macau

Esplanade...Macau

National Chinese Flags..Macau

Approaching Macau

Looking into China-The Border

KamTin

Countryside....NT

Pottinger Street

Old Cannons..TungChunFort Lantau

Junk Building

Pokfulam Reservoir

Tai Pak Restaurant...Aberdeen

Castle Peak Hotel

Temple 10,000 Buddhas

Boat Painting

Lok Ma Chau

The Border Road

South China Sea

Castle Peak Way

KaiTak...Towards Lion Rock

Boy Scout

Junk off the Coast

Sharp Island

Taikoo Dockyard

Kowloon Tong..Waiting for the Bus

NT..Tree in Colour

Sharp Island?

Park

Ride on Star Ferry

Repulse Bay 1960s

MongKok Lights

Causeway Bay 1960s

KiaTak

Village Life

Junk in the Harbour

Luk Yuen Hotel...NT

Dragon Inn....NT

Hakka Woman...LokMaChau

4th Kowloon Cub Pack

Clearwater Bay Area?

Cape Collinson Lighthouse

North Point

Beach

Stanley

Clearwater Bay Area?

Clearwater Bay Road

Stanley beach

Waterloo road

Funeral ..Kowloon Tong

Paddy Fields

Clearwater Bay View

Small Pagoda...Peak Area

Peak Living

Kai Tak Departure

La Salle Road

The Garden at La Salle Road

Jubilee Resevoir

Onboard CPA DC6

Enroute to Japan

Family Swim

Miramar Restaurant Kai Tak

Taipan leaves HK

Beach

TaoFungShan...Shatin

TaoFungShan

The Monastry at Shatin

Shop Opening...Waterloo Road

Swimming pool !

Waterloo Road

Swimming at Castle Peak

Ambassador Hotel

Aerial View Kai Tak

Lufthansa 707

Ambassador Hotel Advert

Royal Air Laos DC6

Victoria Harbour

View Over Victoria

The Peninsula Hotel

Sampans

City Hall

Hilton By Night

Street Scene

HSBC Xmas Lights

Eastern Hong Kong

Happy Valley

KCR Clock Tower

Stanley Village

Junk At Sunset

Tiger Balm Gardens

Pagoda

Red Pagoda

Shatin Floating Restaurant

Village Life

Macau...SunYat Sen House

Macau

Mandarin Hotel Advert 1963.jpg

Watson's Advert 1963.jpg

Whiteaway's Advert 1963.jpg

CostPlus Advert 1963.jpg

KaiTak from Kowloon Peak 1964

KaiTak Apron 1964

CityHall & Mandarin Hotel

The Governor at Kai Tak

New Territories-Amah Rock

Central

WongTaiSin

KaiTak Runway

Looking over HK Air Copter KaiTak

Kowloon Tong 1965

View Towards KaiTak

WongTaiSin

Star Ferry - USN Carrier 1966

End of Clearwater Bay Road

Walking at Clearwater Bay

Sunset

Fountain at Night

Jordan Road Lights

Lok Ma Chau

View Towards Argyle Street

HoManTin Hill-View From Kadoorie Avenue

HK WaterTours

HoManTin Hill-View From Kadoorie Avenue

Argyle Street-CLP building

Mandarin Hotel

"Model Village" in Kowloon Tong (模範村)

Ambassador Hotel 1968

Tsim-Sha-Tsui Bristol Avenue

Nathan Road 1968

Tsim-Sha-Tsui Peking Road

Star Ferry-Kowloon

KCR Clock Tower-Star Ferry

Sampan-Victoria harbour

Shek Kong Airstrip

Nairn House-China Light&Power

Cathay Convair880 KaiTak

Overlooking Kowloon

Kowloon Canton Railway Terminal 1969

Sai Kung

View towards Hebe Haven

Rickshaw-Kowloon

Island View from Kadoorie Avenue

Kowloon Tong-View to Boundary Street

Star Ferry-Hong Kong Hotel

View across Kowloon to Island

Kadoorie Ave...View down from St.George's Court

View towards Kowloon Tong

Lau Fau Shan Police Station

Nathan road Lights

HK at Night

Night View

Night View towards Kaitak

Night View towards Harbour

HKG DRIVING LICENCE.jpg

New Year 1970

ShuiHing Store

Sha Ha...Near SaiKung

Thanks again to Mike for showing us his photos. If you have any photos of old Hong Kong you'd like to share on Gwulo.com, please click here for details of how to upload them: http://gwulo.com/node/2076

Comments

Great photos Mike - thanks for sharing. They bring back lots of memories. I lived there during the 50's and 60's and have lots of photos as well, but yours are in great condition. Like you I went to KJS and then Peak school and finally was sent to boarding school in the UK - life was different then!

By the way, I think the last photo was in Tai Po area - I remember a house like that which had ghost stories galore! I still have all the articles relating to the visits by various ghosts and I think a book was written about it.

Thanks for the great photos and memories,especially those of Kowloon Tong. I grew up in Kowloon Tong in the 50's. We lived at 227 Prince Edward Road after the war, then moved to 5 La Salle Road. the photos of the street taken fromKadoorie Ave is so familiar. Our house on PE Road had a beautiful front and back garden. The street was wide and many Macanese families lived in the neighborhood. Went to Maryknoll Convent School, then worked for BOAC both in Hong Kong and London - guess we never met as your Hong Kong stay just missed mine, Most British kids we knew went to KGV. Thanks again.

Many thanks Mike for taking the time and trouble to upload these photos. Fantastic. I also lived in Kowloon Tong - La Salle Road - during that period, a lasting memory being the jets coming in to land so close overhead. We soon recognised the distant sounds and learned to stop talking about about 20 seconds before the plane actually arrived above ! A neighbour was a Cathay training captain and I mentioned to him the noise of Cathay Pacific's early morning training flights - predictably at 7.00am when the overnight noise restrictions were lifted. He invited me aboard an early morning traing flight - 'Stalls and Bumps' he called it. The 'stall' was acheived by slowing until the plane stalled - dropped like a stone for a few thousand feet, it seemed - before powering into a steep climb. The 'bump' was by a controlled 'touch down' berfore powering into another steep climb. Repeated, again and again. The secret, he told me, was not to actually touch down because the resulting puff of blue smoke would trigger a 'landing charge' ! All this in a Convair 880 with just my neighbour, the trainee and a qualified standby pilot fast asleep in First Class. I didn't complain about the early morning noise ever again.

Yes, Mike, I recognised No.27 having driven past it many times ! I have a feeling that a colleague moved into 27 probably some time after you left. Paid a nostalgic visit to HK and La Salle Road in February this year over the CNY. Very few, if any, of the older buildings remain with the developers having taken advantage of the relaxed height restrictions. By building over the garden, there are now three blocks shoe-horned into my old address at 51/53, parking meters all along La Salle, recognised bus stops and regular mini-bus route. Quieter in the air above, perhaps, but much busier than what we remember trafficwise.

Great photos and thanks for all the memories. Maybe we were at the Kowloon Junk Shop at the same time.

We moved to HK in 1958 from Perth in West Australia, travelling on the Blue Funnel Line "Gorgon" to Singapore and then on a Cathay DC4 to HK. Dad stayed in HK flying for Cathay until 1978 and during that time I went to KJS and KGV although I left in 2nd form to go to boarding school. Many wonderful times spent at the USRC (where I am still a member...although absent most of the time).

Worked in HK, Korea dn Japan for the past 35 years and now retired but never fail to feel a bit nostalgic when I see some old photos. There is one someone sent me of a start of the cross harbour swim...and there I am...my ears have never recovered!

Your Dad would most likely know the Cathay captain I referred to in my previous post - he was flying with Cathay about the same time - Ray Daw ? And his children - Warwick, Rodney and Bromwyn were at Kowloon Junior and KGV about the same time as you.

Lifetime membership of the USRC was money well-spent You will no doubt remember club manager Dion Matthews, with his pipe and carrying an ever-present half-pint of warm San Mig.

I was more than a bit shocked to recognize the photos of 27 La Salle Road. I lived there from 67 to 69. I was told it was built by a man with both a wife and a mistress. It was a split unit with an upstairs and down. We lived in the upstairs unit. I recall it as being very large. I used run along the top of the wall that went to the gate . I cannot tell you how errie and yet delightful it was to see the pictures of it. Should this find it's way to you, I would dearly love to speak with you about the place at some point. Gary calypso164@gmail.com

After hiking to Lion Rock from Kowloon Tong, I would tour Amah Rock (my 1950s days) before heading to Shatin station. The photo here taken from a Shatin farm reminds me of the moment I turned around, while in that general vicinity, to see Amah Rock one more time. The memory of that hillside landscape is coming back. Thank you Mr. Cussans.

Hi! Greetings from Hong Kong! I enjoy the pics you shared a lot! Espeically those taken in Kowloon Tong. I am a teaching staff in Urban Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Me and my students are now working on a public exhibition about Kowloon Tong Garden City, hoping to bring all the old memories back to community. Do you mind if we use some of the pics you posted here for public exhibition? Do you have more pictures? And do you mind if I contact you diectly (my email address is: kwhelenip@cuhk.edu.hk)? Many thanks! I am looking forward hearing from you!

Hi, I read your comment re Mike photos of old HK. Since you wrote "Most British kids we knew went to KGV" I wonder if you know of Malcolm Foster and his family living in Stonecutter Island. He graduated from HKU in 1965.

Classmates of his would like to know where he is and how he is doing. I am posting this hoping someone knows him.

Prior to moving to Stewart Terrace in 1969, we lived a few months at 20 Mount Austin Road, up in the clouds. Do you have any photos of that old building. I think soon after, it was demolished and replaced with a block of Apartments.

I loved the photos. I lived in HK from 1962-1966. I was 12 to 16 years old. We lived at first at the old Gloucester Hotel, then at the Peninsula Hotel, then to a couple flats at St. George's Court and finally at Chan Gardens on Argyle Rd, right behind KGV where I attended from 1st through 4th forms. I LOVED HK and want to someday go back to visit...haven't been there since we moved to California in 1966. Thanks for the pics. They brought back some wonderful memories.

My Dad's office was in Windsor House two doors down on Des Voeux Rd. (Dairy Lane on the ground floor) Then came Lane Crawford and then what I remember as the gloomy Gloucester Arcade. Where was the hotel entrance? Do you remember the ground floor being gloomy ?

We moved from suburban Seattle straight to the Gloucester Hotel, completely out of our element. We walked past lepers huddled in doorways on the way to the hotel. Not something you see in suburban Seattle. Everything seemed gloomy at the time, hot and steamy and kind of smelly. But looking back our stay there was wonderful...I think it was only a couple months. Our room was indeed gloomy, but we as kids found a way to have fun. There was a real live elevator operator who became our friend and we joked around with him every day. Also, the Saddle and Sirloin was a great restaurant to dine at. I still remember regularly ordering Scottish smoked trout with a crab-meat cocktail as an appetizer. Not many 12 year old boys had that kind of privilege. I would love to see pictures of the entire hotel inside and out, but sadly, they probably don't exist, only in my memory.

Thanks for sharing these great photos. I was looking for photos of the old China Fleet Club and came accross the photo of an aircraft carrier, the first one from the top, entitled Coral Sea. Further down you do have a photo of the actual Coral Sea, however the first photo is probably U.S.S. Ranger a larger class carrier than the Coral Sea. I served for three years aboard Coral Sea (1967-1970) and was probably aboard when the photo's were taken. Hong Kong has changed so much in the past 49 years, it is hardly recognizable any more to those of us who were there in the 60's.

I Mike, great photos-I moved to HK in September 1968 as my father took up a flight engineer job with Cathay Pacific-We lived in the Fortuna Hotel for the first six weeks we were there, before Cathay found us a flat in Kadoorie Ave, but in 1969 we moved to Tailoo villas (if you could call them villas they were just flats!} with a view directly across to Whisky beach-fantastic! In 1974 Mum and Dad bit the bullet and decided to build their own house which was kind of unheard of back then, especially amongst the cathay fraternity, but they went ahead and the house was completed in Tai Hang Hau, almost at the end of clearwater bay road in July 1975. I attended St Katherines kindergarten, not far from Kadoorie ave, and then Beacon Hill school in Kowloon Tong, until September 1976 when I too came back to Sydney for Boarding School, until my father retired from flying in 1983 and I finished school and we left Honkers-very very sad to leave as I had a wonderful childhood growing up there and miss it still today, although it is vastly different to era I was there-Wouldn't trade it for the world!! What a life experience. Will try to get some old photos on here

Enjoyed looking at your photographs Mike, they brought back many memories of places when I lived in Hong Kong. I imagine that our paths must have crossed now and again as I was born in Hong Kong in 1948, went to Kowloon Junior School (before boarding the Lollipop Specials for the trips to school in England) and my father was Airport Commandant at Kai Tak until his retirement in 1962. I will try and dig out some photographs in the not too distant future.

Hello, I especially enjoyed the photo from St George's looking down Kadoorie Ave. We briefly lived in the first floor flat in 1964, moving up to the 3rd floor for the remaining 2 yrs we lived in Hong Kong. My brothers' shortcut to the parking garage underneath the flats was to drop off the edge of the ledge. I tried it once.

My brothers and I loved sitting in the Pan Am Clipper Club at the Kai Tak, and we were on one of Boeing's first fleet of 747's out of Hong Kong. We loved the Peninsula Hotel, the chicken curry at the Embassador, the Kowloon ferry, the Ocean Terminal, and Repulse Bay. We especially loved jumping off junks or friends' yachts into small bays when no jelly fish were present. We were guests on Mr Kadoorie's yacht once, and we appreciated that the Peninsula had catered the event. I bought my first Swiss watch at the Peninsula jewelry shop for US $12.

My dad took us for drives in the mountains in his black Jaguar with spoke wheels, which he kept immaculate despite having the contents of someone's lunch chucked out a window now and then. I was a Brownie at KJS, learned the violin there, went on a fieldtrip to Macau, and jumped rope longer than all my friends. The warm milk for snack was not as good as the huameis from the vendor after school. My memories of KJS are my fondest childhood memories of school.

Mike's photos brought a wealth of joyful memories back. Thank you for the experience of seeing Hong Kong once again as I knew it!

I lived at Saint George's Court also in 1964. We lived in a couple different flats there. I had a friend down the hill on Kadoorie Avenue, named John Shoemaker. We went to see the Beatles together at the old Princess Theater. My friend Eric Mache and I used to go to movies at all the different theaters in town too. And my mom also used to take us to the Princess regularly. We'd have lunch at the Golden Phoenix. I remember we could select the seats we wanted at the theater and that the popcorn was sweet, not like it is here in the States. Those really were magical times snd I don't think anyone except people who lived in HK at that time could appreciate what a great time it was to live there.

I went to KGV and absolutely loved it there. We ended up renting a flat after we left St. George's at a place called Chan Gardens right behind KGV. When we first moved to HK we lived at the old Gloucester Hotel. I was a kid but I really wish I had taken a lot of pictures there. Who thought about those things as a kid? Not me anyway. So thanks, Mike, for the pictures you've posted. Pictures of a time and place never to be duplicated.

So you knew Tim? - We were at KGV together. Do you know his whereabouts now?? - Would love to send him a G'day message. I was in HKG from 1946- 63- Did the Old Peak School / New Peak School / KGV trek and then came to Australia,, where I've been eve since.

Thanks for the great photos! I lived in HK from 1959 to 1962. My family spent Christmas of 1959 at the Gloucester Hotel where we lived until moving to Burnside Estates in Repulse Bay. I went to the Peak School while my older brother went to KGV. I have many happy memories of the Repulse Bay Hotel, the "Castle", going to the beach on Sundays at Stanley Prison, shopping at Lane Crawford, definitely some of the most exciting and happy days of my childhood!

Curious where that ghost house was? The most famous one be a storm drain. A bunch of young children brought by their teacher went there on a wknd picnic. When it rained these kids thought to hide under the storm drain under a bridge. Sadly the rain was very heavy washed all the kids down to sea. Sadly none had survived. That was circa 54? A few yrs before I was born. There after the section of taipo hwy became very haunted. Bus and mini bus will get people waiting for them or flagging them. Only stopped for empty air! And if u are into ghost stories hk has no shortage of them. God bless and Cheers.

I went on several of those training flights as I was stationed at RAF Kai Tak in the early sixties.I was there in 1962 when Typhoon Wanda struck HK.An oil tanker was thrown on top of the runway.Five of my RAF friends were killed on High Island and I was a pall bearer for an australian friend.I worked at a radar station on Mount Taimoshan.

I've just joined the site. Thank you so much for the photos. When we got the internet i looked up HongKong but nothing looked like i remembered it. Lived in Kowloon from 1954 (i was 9 months old)-57 and then HongKong 57-63. I am amazed how many people remember street names etc. perhaps that depends on time spent there and age. We moved to Australia before the riots and after the 'fabulosity' of HongKong Oz was a severe disappointment. Perhaps if we'd lived in Sydney but my father wanted us to be safe so it was a small suburb in the Blue Mountains. Boring. We children had a lot of freedom in HongKong to explore by ourselves and then, my mother was an adventurous woman who took us pretty much everywhere.

I lived right behind you at 14 Oxford Road in 1964 as a 13 year old, we would have shared the alley! I wished we had met, it was a little lonely there. We could have yelled across our rooftops. Thank you for all the wonderful pictures, it certainly summed up my time and memories there. We also lived in Clearwater Bay for a while and I enjoyed your pictuires of that isolated area. I had to take the jitney from Kowloon City to get to and from KGV. I went back last May for a long visit and stayed at the Salisbury Y. All changed of course but enough the same to evoke the nostalgia I feel for my time there 1964 - 70.

Thanks for the great photos, Mike. I lived in Hong Kong in the 70s, so after the time of most photos but was delighted to see a lot of familiar places, especially Repluse Bay Hotel and Tiger Balm Gardens. I lived in an actual house with a balcony in Broadwood Road, Hong Kong side, and then in Tantallon Terrace in Hung Hom Docks (sadly neither there now). Best wishes, Margaret

Kudos to Mike Cussans for sharing such a marvelous collection of pictures. Prince Edward Rd, Kadoorie Ave, La Salle Rd...all sound so familiar. I lived on Waterloo Rd and attended La Salle. Do you happen to know Marilyn, a Portuguese who used to live on Ho Man Tin St attended Maryknoll?